"I rejected Chinese cultural art because when I was younger, my peers didn't know about these kinds of things, so it made me feel like I was the odd one out," he said.
But when Mr Chen's father died in 2013 from a heart attack, he decided to drop out of university in Australia to help his mother run the family business.
"If I didn't take over the business, all the 30 years of my parents' hard work would have gone to waste. When my dad passed away, it triggered me to protect their legacy," said Mr Chen, 38, who was then pursuing an electrical engineering degree at the University of Queensland in Brisbane with hopes of starting a life there.
After coming back to Singapore, he spent two years completing a degree in business management before running the business full time in 2015.
Without much experience, Mr Chen observed how his mother ran the business and accompanied her to factories in China and South Korea to learn how art materials, like paintbrushes, paper and ink, are produced.
Denne historien er fra December 02, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra December 02, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Response to retention of Siglap block shows everyday buildings have value
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